Commission approves North Springs' policies

Bobcat Tepes of the Balanced Rock Regulators holds the "snake" that this 7-year-old sharpshooter took care of Saturday at Castle Gate Town.

North Springs Shooting Range and Recreation Area have a solid set of rules and regulations when the facility turns 1 on May 19.

North Springs recently experienced what was deemed growing pains by the county commissioners.

A dispute regarding the use of the range's Castle Gate Town was aired before the commissioners April 4, resulting in a decision to hammer out a written permit policy.

"It's going to address and solve a lot of problems," said Scott Olsen, the range manager, at the April 16 commission meeting where the policies were first presented.

Olsen explained that all groups wanting to use the range will be given the new rules and asked to review them. In addition, the user will fill out an application specifying the date and times they are seeking, as well as defining the event safety protocols.

The new policy will clarify and address several of the issues cited in the dispute between the Balanced Rock Regulators and Olsen.

On their side, the Regulators alleged that Olsen gave away what they believed to be the group's regular monthly shoot date on different occasions, including the day they had planned a Christmas open house.

Scheduling glitches should not be a problem in the future as the permit policy states:

"The range manager reserves the right to schedule other events on the same date previously reserved for a recurring permit holder. When determining whether to preempt a date otherwise reserved for a recurring permit holder, consideration will be given based on past performance, size and scope of the event and the benefit to the range and Carbon County."

It goes on to say that the decision will be at the sole discretion of the range manager but that 60 days notice must be given to the permit holder that their day has been preempted.

The policy also requires that recurring permit holders use at least 75 percent of their scheduled days or they will forfeit the option of renewing the schedule for the following year.

On his side, Olsen asserted that the Regulators failed to follow procedures for use of equipment and the facilities

Any murkiness on the requirements that may have led to the dispute are cleared up in the new policy, which leaves little room for misunderstandings.

The four-page document carefully outlines rules for any type of permit - single or recurring and leaves little to nothing to individual interpretation.

At the regularly scheduled third Saturday Regulators shoot, SueAnn Martell, aka Kitty Tetons, the club's secretary said that they were given the policy and filled out the new application. She indicated that the relationship with the range and Olsen had taken a positive turn.